The Owl Hunts the Robin
by DragonsintheMoonlight
Summary: When the Flying Graysons died, Dick was not adopted by Bruce. Instead he was taken by the Court of Owls and turned into a Talon. A year ago, Dick escaped, and took up the mantle of Robin, hoping to redeem himself. But the Court does not let Talons escape so easily. They will come for their Talon, this Robin that Batman and Young Justice are trying to figure out. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer-I do not own **_**Batman **_**or **_**Justice League **_**or **_**Young Justice**_

Dick couldn't stop running.

If he stopped, he was sure they'd catch him; they always knew everything, and they were always one step ahead of everyone, _usually._

He wasn't the first to get away, and hopefully, he wouldn't be the last. He knew Mary had escaped, and now he was escaping.

The Court of Owls hadn't noticed his absence yet, so he was safe. Or as safe as a runaway Talon ever could be.

He'd been with the Talons since he was nine, and memories before that, he admitted, were pretty vague now, blocked out. He wasn't sure he wanted to remember them or not, for he knew they were _good _memories, and he couldn't stand to have good memories that were so far from his grasp. He'd think they were fake after what the Court did to him.

For Dick, pain was something he had on a daily basis, as the Court harmed him, maimed him, breaking him down just to build him back up again so he'd be a perfect killer. And killing, killing was a second nature for him now.

Killing was all he knew, but it was the main thing he wanted to forget.

Dick fled far from the Court of Owls, hoping to never have to go back and face the Court again.

That was one year ago. Since then, Dick tried to build a new life for himself, but it wasn't really working. He was too damaged and there was too much blood on his hands.

_Murderer, assassin, mindless killer. _He'd done everything the Court had asked of him, and felt like he deserved to die for it. But he wouldn't die without at least trying to redeem himself, though it'd never happen, he knew that.

He fashioned himself a mantle, going by the name Robin. It was fitting after all; he'd gone from the Talon of an Owl to the bird that the Talons caught, the robin hunted by the owls, just like how he was hunted by the Court of Owls.

* * *

**AN: So, what do you think? Should I continue? **

**I intend to include Batman, Young Justice, and a bit of the Justice League. It'll have a lot of fatherly stuff with Dick and Bruce and lots of Young Justice friendship. Don't know if I can work in more Bats, but it's possible if you _really_ want me too. They probably will be like Dick though and have really different pasts if I do include them.**

**The chapters will be longer than this, as this is just a prologue, and also, as Dick is a Talon, he is immortal, so only the only thing that can kill him is cyro-freezing, and from what I've read, it sounds like that just sort of shuts Talons down for a while.**

**If you're looking for more fics about Batman characters, I do have one called the Story of Stray, which centers around Tim Drake, and a couple Batman and NCIS crossovers, and I am thinking about doing a fic about Cass, as she's awesome, may even start working on that now.**

**Well, I do enjoy your comments and feedback, so review if you like.**

**Thanks for reading,****-DragonsintheMoonlight**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer-I do not own **_**Batman **_**or**_** Young Justice**_

Dick's POV

Dick could never escape them. Deep down he knew that. He had been their prize Talon, one of the best they had ever had, he'd heard them say so. There was no way they just let him disappear without trying to track him down.

But Dick was smart, and he knew how to go undetected. He had been many places, never staying in one place for very long, saving lives as Robin the whole time. He'd been to France, Spain, Britain, all across Europe; he'd hid out in Africa, Australia, parts of the USA, Canada, Brazil… the list went on, and Dick couldn't help but wonder if his latest choice was his stupidest.

Gotham, the Court's city. It was also the most crime infested city, which is why he chose to be stupid and come here. Dick was looking to redeem himself, even if he knew deep down that he never really could, just like he could never really die thanks to the synthesized electrum in his blood. He could only be put into a cryo-induced coma, and _that _wasn't really dying, but it wasn't really living. He'd been put in them before, and he'd been like the living dead.

Part of Dick wanted to run from Gotham, but he'd talked himself into staying. As long as he was really careful, only roamed the streets as Robin, and stayed completely off of the Court's main territory, even though they saw Gotham as completely their city, there was a part of it that was sort of their 'turf', he _should _be fine. Hopefully.

Right now, he was up on a rooftop of a large building, gazing own at the passing cars below him.

Dick could not remember just how many cars he'd been hit with in his lifetime. There'd even been a few buses and a semi. But none of the pain the cars ever inflicted upon him ever compared to what the Court of Owls did.

Dick suppressed a shudder as he remembered some of the things they'd do to him and the other Talons. Coffins full of spikes, the cryo making them sleep in living-dead comas, the whippings, the cuttings, the sheer abuse they caused.

Breaking them down and building them back up. Turning them into perfect killers. That's all the Court of Owls ever did.

And then, Dick heard a scream. He immediately jumped up from his crouch on the ground and ran towards it.

It was a feminine scream, belonging to a woman who sounded like she was probably somewhere in her twenties.

Dick was right. The woman looked young, but she was definitely an adult. A man had just stolen her purse.

Robin came out of nowhere. He dove down on the man, giving him a nice nerve strike that the Court had taught him.

He gave the purse back to the woman and was already half way up the fire escape of another building before she could even react.

He hadn't needed to do anything to the man; the nerve strike would have him unconscious for quite a while, and Robin didn't really want to draw too much attention to himself; the Court would find him easier then.

Little did he know that not only the Batman, but also a team of young super heroes had been watching him.

* * *

Batman's POV

Bruce was mildly stunned when the boy had swooped out of no where. He knew the Young Justice team was patrolling tonight, so he'd been prepared to fly down, but only if the team was not already swooping down to help.

He was quite interested, and was considering contacting Young Justice to see if they had seen this masked vigilante before, when he got a call on his com from Aqualad, with the same question.

No, no Bruce didn't know who the boy was, _yet._

* * *

Wally's POV

Wally had been about to zip down with the rest of the team to help the woman, when the red and yellow clad figure had jumped down out of nowhere and rescued the woman's purse.

Kaldur had called Batman about it, to see if he new anything, but Batman had never seen the boy before either.

"Should we pursue him?" Conner asked.

The Young Justice team all had a simultaneous answer: Yes.

After all, the boy couldn't have gone far, and almost all of them had a power to help them catch him. Wally had the super speed, Conner could detect him with his heat-sensing vision, M'gann had her telepathic and telekinetic powers, etc.

The team pursued the mystery boy wonder, until they had found him, several rooftops over, though they had no idea that he was always prepared to be snuck up on, and to possibly even kill his attackers, if they were who they thought they were of course.

Thankfully for the team, Robin would realize quickly enough that they weren't the Court of Owls and they weren't Talons.

The boy was crouched near the edge of the building, staring intently over the edge. Wally hoped he wasn't thinking about jumping.

Before the team could approach the boy though, he jumped up and spun around, unsheathing a pair of swords.

"Whoa, calm down, we just want to talk," Wally said.

The boy eyed them suspiciously, assessing each of them, as if he was expecting someone. Once he seemed satisfied, though Wally couldn't imagine what he'd been looking for, he lowered the swords, but didn't put them away.

"What do you want?" the boy asked.

"To talk," Wally repeated.

"What do you _really _want?" he asked.

Wally blinked. The team really just wanted to talk.

"We're not looking for a fight," Kaldur assured him.

"Oh? So you sneak up on people for fun?" the boy asked.

"No, but when we want to talk to them, yes," Conner said.

The boy still looked rather hostile, so Wally decided the best way to get him to lower his guard a little was to engage in conversation.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Robin," the boy replied.

"That's an alias," Artemis said.

"And what, you don't go by aliases?" Robin asked, looking defensive again, not that he'd ever stopped looking defensive, it just increased again.

"Well, well, we do, but..." M'gann trailed off. She didn't really seem to know what to say to the hostile little bird.

And then she created a mental link between her and the team. _Maybe we should call Batman? _she suggested.

_Perhaps that'd be a good idea, but let's see if we can handle this first, _Superboy replied.

"So, what're you doing out at a time like this?" Wally asked in a friendly tone. The boy didn't really _look _dangerous. He was small, athletic, and young, probably around their age, but seemed smaller than Wally, Conner, and Kaldur. The only really scary thing about him that Wally could see were those swords.

"Nothing right now," Robin said, looking like he was prepared to either fight them, or flee from them, and Wally could tell, and so could the rest of the team.

"We're not here for a fight," Kaldur said, "and we're not going to hurt you."

Robin's expression changed, but it was unreadable. Wally tried to decipher it, but failed.

"What were you doing before?" Wally asked, continuing to be friendly.

"Why do you care?" Robin asked. Wally could tell he wanted to run away from them, even though they were attempting to be friendly, but Wally could tell that it wasn't because he hated them or anything, he was _afraid _of them.

"We-" but Wally never got to continue before the bird-like boy leapt off the roof.

His eyes widened, and M'gann immediately used her telekinesis to catch Robin as he jumped, she began to pull him back up onto the roof, though he was struggling in her mind grip, and hold him in place.

"Do you have a death wish?" Conner asked, stunned.

They had no idea that a part of the little bird _did _have a death wish, merely because he couldn't die, couldn't even kill himself if he was caught by those who hunted him, and in his opinion, that was a fate a thousand times worse than death.

"Let me go," Robin sounded quite menacing, but Wally could see past it. Deep down, he was a scared boy who was probably just in need of a friend.

"You can let him go," a voice sounded behind them, making Wally jump, as Batman appeared out of nowhere.

Robin's eyes widened slightly, a mix of curiosity and fear. He obviously knew who Batman was.

Miss Martian let Robin loose from her telekinetic grip. the boy looked prepared to run again, but Batman stopped him with a glare. "If you do that, we'll only pursue you," he said in the 'Bat voice', "and catch you."

"What do you want?" Robin asked between gritted teeth.

"Like Kid Flash said, we just want to talk," Batman said.

"About what?" Robin asked.

"We saw you save that woman," Batman said, "it was very impressive."

"No it wasn't," Robin said, and Wally noticed something change in his demeanor, it was almost as if he hated himself, but Wally couldn't imagine why.

And apparently, neither could Batman. "It was. Why are you being so hard on yourself?"

"Doing a few good things doesn't make up for all the bad ones," he said. "Good bye, Batman."

And then, he jumped again, and they weren't prepared for it, so M'gann didn't catch him in time.

The team and Batman ran towards the edge, but Robin was gone, and all there was on the ground was a single scarlet bloodstain.

* * *

**AN: Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? Should I continue? I do have some good ideas for this fic after all. I know Dick may seem a little OOC, but he was raised and abused by the Court of Owls in this fic, so he has some issues. I promise, he will end up warming up to Batman and the Young Justice team, because Wally was right, deep down, even if he doesn't even know it, Robin just needs a friend.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this.**

**-DragonsintheMoonlight**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer-I do not own **_**Batman **_

Dick's POV

Dick pulled his still broken form into the warehouse he'd been crashing in. He hadn't had time to set his bones so they could heal; he'd been too busy running away from Young Justice, and… _Batman._

Batman had been talked about all the time in the Court. The Elders had hated him, and therefore, the Talons had to hate him too. But Dick had left the Court, so, did that mean he _wasn't _supposed to openly loathe Batman and hope the Court would assign him to be the Talon to end him?

He thought so, after all, it was against the Court's wishes, and he'd never actually agreed with the 'problem' Batman posed.

The Court had believed that Batman was a threat to Gotham, their city. Dick supposed that he'd probably just end up finding out for himself, after all, he wasn't quite ready to leave yet, though it would be the smartest choice, and Batman and the Young Justice didn't seem inclined to let him leave.

Dick growled in annoyance. _Why couldn't he ever be left alone? Ever?_

He settled down, and knew it probably was a good idea to go to sleep and get some rest, after all, his body did tire even if it had already healed now that he'd set his bones into place, but every time he closed his eyes, he always snapped them back open, wide with fear that he was going to wake up back in a coffin full of cryo-spikes, keeping him in a land of oblivion for years until the Court needed him again.

A fate worse than death.

Every Talon is immediately cryo-frozen when the court first gets a hold of them. The moment they implant the electrum in the Talon-to-be's tooth, they have to, want to, or perhaps it's both, to cryo-freeze them.

It shows the Talon who's boss… and takes all the pain away.

When the electrum first coursed through Dick's bloodstream, going into his head first, as that's the first place the tooth deposited electrum in, he had felt as if he was being ripped apart. The Court always cryo-freezes the Talon after doing so, putting them to sleep until the electrum courses through all of them.

_And scaring the hell out of them as they are shoved screaming into a spike-filled coffin, _Dick thought to himself.

They would also cryo-freeze Talons when they no longer needed them at the time, or when they disobeyed them.

Escaping was one of the worst forms of disobedience. If he was ever caught…

Dick gave himself a little shake. _Don't think about that._

With a sigh, he decided that he obviously wasn't going to get to sleep, as usual. Perhaps he should go out again, save a few people and then get the hell out of the Court's city.

Dick had no idea that wouldn't be the case, or that Gotham would eventually become his home.

* * *

**AN: Okay, so I haven't updated for a while. Sorry about that; I've been working on my novels. I did try to update a few fics, but my computer decided to up and die, I think my box quit or something. I happened to be working on my fics at the time, and when the computer randomly shut down, I lost all the work I'd done and had to start over. I promise the next chapter will be longer.**

**Well, I'd love to know what you all think of this; I tried to do my best to explain how I am going to have the Talons be made, and how they are treated.**

**If you want, I can try to incorporate Tim, Cass, and Jason; I had an idea that they could be currently cryo-frozen Talons that Dick knew, but hadn't seen in quite a while because they had disobeyed the Court. If that sounds fun to you, let me know in a review or a PM. If you don't want me to incorporate the other Bats in the story, just use the same tactic to let me know your opinion.**

**Well, thanks again for reading,**

**-DragonsintheMoonlight**


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